US should talk to Iran, says Saudi envoy

Washington, Oct 5: The United States should open up negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said today.

''I think for the United States not to talk to Iran is a mistake,'' Prince Turki al-Faisal, who represents one of Washington's key West Asia allies, told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

''We think that negotiation and talking to people is more important than shutting the door on them,'' the ambassador told the Washington think tank.

The United States has refused to open up talks with Iran until it agrees to abandon uranium enrichment, a process the West says could lead to Iran making nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear activities are for civilian power generation.

''We've found, in our experience, that when we did not talk to Iran --our relations were broken for a period of a few years in the '90s -- we had more troubles with each other,'' said Al-Faisal.

In a visit to Saudi Arabia this week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the international community had no choice but to impose sanctions on Iran if it failed to suspend enrichment as demanded under an August 31 UN deadline.

Al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia talked to Iran ''frequently and frankly'' about a range of issues including proliferation, and that he encouraged the United States to take the same approach.

''We hope that, by talking to them, that we'll be able to at least open their eyes,'' the ambassador said.

Reuters

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